Fitbit, one of the market leaders in the fitness tech category, has announced three new activity trackers, one of which will be available to consumers in the coming weeks. The Fitbit Charge is a wrist-worn activity tracker, the Charge HR adds an optical heart rate monitor, and the Fitbit Surge is a GPS-enabled runner's watch that also measure the user's daily activities.
Fitbit says these three products break down into three different types: every day, active, and performance. In other words, Fitbit is growing as a company to make not just activity trackers, but also GPS sports watches. The Fitbit Surge seems positioned to compete with Garmin's Forerunner series, an elite brand of similar devices for runners and outdoors enthusiasts.
Here's a little more about each of the new products.
Fitbit Charge
Summary: An all-day, wrist-worn activity tracker, similar to the Fitbit Force, with a larger display and caller ID for incoming calls (pushed from a smartphone to the device).
Price: $129.95
Availability: In stores in early November in the U.S., and internationally later in November
Screen: OLED
Special features: The Fitbit Charge will be the first Fitbit device to support a smartwatch feature, namely that when you receive an incoming call on your phone, the person's name will appear on the Charge's screen. The Charge will measure steps, distance, flights of stairs climbed, sleep, exercises, and calories burned. One improvement over previous Fitbit products is that sleep monitoring will happen automatically. Exercise mode, or telling the device when to start and stop a specific activity, will be simple to use as well, with a press-and-hold of the device's button.
Another change from previous wrist-worn models is that Fitbit has change the material of the band (it's now elastomer) and made improvements to the clasp so that it won't wear out over time, or at least not as quickly. The Charge will launch in two colors, black and slate, with blue and burgundy colors options arriving in 2015. It will be available widely in small and large sizes, with an XL option available through Fitbit's website.
Fitbit Charge HR
Summary: Similar to the Fitbit Charge, but with an optical heart-rate monitor (HRM), called PurePulse that continually reads heart rate every second.
Price: $149.95
Availability: Early 2015
Screen: OLED
Special features: Because the Fitbit Charge HR can detect and measure your heart rate, the device and companion app can give more accurate calorie-burn estimates. 
Heart rate tracking also helps users exercise more efficiently and keep an eye on their resting heart rate, which can be an indicator of overall health. During exercise, you can set a target HR zone, or rely on what Fitbit calls Simplified Zones that have ranges for fat-burning, cardio, and peak heart rate. PurePulse (the name of the HRM technology) is proprietary to Fitbit.
While the Charge HR will read your heart rate even while you're sleeping, it does not use it to estimate periods of light, deep, and REM sleep, the way devices made by Intel-owned Basis do. Based on my first look at the device, it seems to be most directly comparable with Wellograph, which does not include sleep tracking.
In terms of design, the Charge HR has a very different clasp than the Charge, using a buckle closure instead of prongs. At launch, it will be available in black and plum, with blue and tangerine becoming available later. Similar to the Charge, users will be able to purchase Charge HR in small, large, and XL sizes.
Fitbit Surge
Summary: A sports-tracking watch with GPS, HRM, call and text notifications, backlighted LCD touch screen, and some advanced tracking features for sports and fitness enthusiasts.
Price: $249.95
Availability: Early 2015
Screen: Touch-screen LCD with backlighting; customizable image and readout
Special features: The Fitbit Surge is meant for "performance," Fitbit reps told me, meaning it's a high-end, GPS sports watch with HRM, and all things considered, the price is quite reasonable. When you set out on a run, the Surge will automatically start GPS tracking but turn it off when you're running out of battery. The watch records everything that the Charge HR does, plus pace, duration of workouts, splits (for running and similar activities), laps, and routes. Mapped route, as well as your other stats, are accessible in the Fitbit website or app, or in Strava, because of a partnership with that app. Core information (but not maps) will also show up on the watch itself.
You can customize the watch to add up to seven activities that you can quickly choose from when you work out. The options are hiking, weight lifting, elliptical training, spinning, yoga, stair-climbing, circuit training, boot camp, pilates, kick boxing, tennis, martial arts, golf, walking, a variety of run types, and a generic workout mode if you're doing something that's not listed.
The watch face is noticeably bigger than that of the Charge or Charge HR. The model I saw had a customized image on the screen, a number (indicating the hour) with a traced outline of a circle around it that filled in to indicate the time in minutes. Bursts of activity showed up on the outline as little radiating lines.
The Surge also has three buttons instead of one for navigating a lot more menus and settings, including remote music controls for your smartphone. At launch, it will be available in small and large, but only in black. Blue and tangerine options will come later. Without GPS enabled, the Surge's expected battery life is five days, and it's five hours with continuous GPS.